Friar Lawrence was the cause
by SSJRyo1000
Summary: An essay attempting to prove that Friar Lawrence was responsible for the main tragedy.


"Virtue itself turns vice, being misapplied, and vice sometime by action dignifies." (II, iii, 21-22.) In fact, this is a statement from Shakespeare's famous Romeo and Juliet, in which the good intentions of Friar Lawrence assisted the tragedy. Inadvertently, Friar Lawrence fixed Romeo and Juliet up for death when he tried to set up their marriage to bring the families together, and when he arranged Juliet's "death." Parents, especially mine, do more harm than good when trying to aid us.  
Friar Lawrence seriously disliked the feud going on between the Capulets and the Montagues, and he believed the marriage of the teens Romeo and Juliet would stop the quarreling, but he was sadly mistaken! After scolding Romeo for having fallen out of love with Rosaline and in with love with Juliet, Friar Lawrence chalked up a brilliant idea- Romeo and Juliet's marriage will make the families end their conflict! ".Come, young waverer, come, go with me, in one respect I'll thy assistant be; for this alliance may so happy prove, to turn your households' rancor to pure love," says the friar (II, iii, 96-99.) Like many, the friar detested the feud going on between the Capulets and the Montagues, and he expected that the families would find respect for each other after they discovered the passion between their children. Unfortunately, the righteous Friar did not consider County Paris, or that the malevolence of the families ran so deep that a strict parent might have outright forbidden the marriage! Still, the friar had an opportunity to make up for his mistakes by immediately sending Romeo and Juliet into hiding, instead of letting them strut around. "Come, come with me, and we will make short work; for, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone till holy church incorporate two in one. (II, iiiiii, 35-37.) Respecting the fact that in the drama, the characters were extremely religious, and they were strict on rituals such as marriage. But to what purpose could Friar Lawrence justify sending the adolescents out into the open? What if someone had unearthed their secret marriage? Instead, the friar should have whisked the two away to a safe place, and then informed and advised their families of the situation. Finally, when the parents cooled down, he could have pulled the two out of hiding. Trying to fix up his botched scheme, Friar Lawrence hatched up what he anticipated to be a brilliant idea: fake Juliet's death and have Romeo bear her away to Mantua.  
  
Once Romeo and Juliet were wed, Romeo was brutally banished for killing the Capulet Tybalt. Seeking to reunite Juliet with Romeo, Friar Lawrence constructed a plan to feign Juliet's death! First, Romeo killed Tybalt after Tybalt slew Romeo's good friend Mercutio, and quickly got banished. Knowing he must do something, Friar Lawrence desired to wait and form some kind of strategy or plan, but another obstacle stood in his way. Having learnt that a terrified Juliet was being harshly forced to marry County Paris in just a few days, Friar Lawrence cooked up a chancy, dangerous plan. "Hold, then; go home, be merry, give consent to marry Paris . . .Tomorrow night look that thou lie alone; let not thy nurse lie with thee in thy chamber. Take thou this vial, being then in bed, and this distilled liquor drink thou off; when presently through all thy veins shall run a cold and drowsy humor, for no pulse shall keep his native progress, but surcease. No warmth, no breath, shall testify thou livest; the roses in thy lips and cheeks shall fade to paly ashes, thy eyes' windows fall, like death, when he shuts up the day of life; each part, deprived of supple government, shall, stiff and stark and cold, appear like death. And in this borrowed likeness of shrunk death thou shalt continue two and forty hours, and then awake as from a pleasant sleep. Now, when the bridegroom in the morning comes to rouse thee from thy bed, there art thou dead. Then, as the manner of our country is, in thy best robes uncovered on the bier thou shalt be borne to that same ancient vault where all the kindred of the Capulets lie. In the mean time, against thou shalt awake, shall Romeo by my letters know our drift, and hither shall he come: and he and I will watch thy waking, and that very night shall Romeo bear thee hence to Mantua." (IV, i, 91-122.) Number one, Friar Lawrence was attempting to assist Juliet but should have first contacted Romeo, and not have delayed until after falsifying Juliet's death. Definitely, Juliet wasn't a low-life bum, she was an important figure, and the foolish friar should have thought that the false news could have spread to Mantua. Also, the unforeseen entrance of Paris caused the already hazardous plan to fail. Additionally, he might have not believed that the love Romeo and Juliet shared was enough for one of them to commit suicide! Since the friar had already faked her death, he had to tell Romeo of his plan, yet, he sent Friar John to deliver that letter when instead he should have gone, and Friar John doesn't deliver it. "Going to find a bare-foot brother out one of our order, to associate me, here in this city visiting the sick, and finding him, the searchers of the town, suspecting that we both were in a house where the infectious pestilence did reign, sealed up the doors, and would not let us forth; so that my speed to Mantua there was stayed." (V, ii, 5-12.) Not using his head, Friar Lawrence entrusted Friar John to give the note, while he himself should have gone because only he knew the importance. Perhaps, the friar was too intent and focused on bringing the families together, and was so sure that it was within his grasp that he didn't think his schemes through. Or, he believed he could not forsake his duties at the church, although stopping the feud between the Capulets and Montagues should have been significant. Maybe, he held contempt for traveling! Despite all the blunders the friar has committed, I find it hard to be so harsh with him because even parents make mistakes while trying to do the best for their children. Just like Friar Lawrence, parents strive to help their kid, yet sometimes their help makes a situation worse. Heard about all the time, parents force students into going to a prestigious college such as Stanford, when the young adult only wants to become an artist, and therefore desires to go to an art college. Other times, a parent, like mine, might talk to a teacher concerning a bully, and the bully in retaliation hurts their son or daughter. Albeit these were good intentions turned bad, they were nothing compared to the mistakes of Friar Lawrence. Luckily, the tale of Romeo and Juliet is not a true story! 


End file.
